Image : Up From the Seafloor Came a Bubbling Brew

The scientists also needed a pristine sample directly from the broken drill pipe to determine how much of the fluid was composed of oil versus natural gas. To collect the well fluid, WHOI scientists used an isobaric gas-tight sampler, or IGT, a deep-sea device developed at WHOI to sample hydrothermal vent fluids. The manipulator arm of a robotic vehicle (upper right) moves the IGT sampler toward the jet of hot oil and gas shooting out of the broken drill pipe. (With permission of U.S. Coast Guardand Rich Camilli, WHOI)